Things that go bump in the daytime
by Roo1965
Summary: set s2 Pennies from Heaven. Jim owies, he can't get away with just a bruise and a limp after Ungar's car clipped him. At least not where i'm concerned...written Feb 2005.


**"Things that go bump in the daytime" by Roo  
**

* * *

It all happened so fast that Blair, sitting in the passenger seat of Jim's truck, could do nothing to prevent it. He watched as Jim dived out; gun drawn, ordering Ungar to put his hands on the wheel where he could see them. Instead Ungar drove his car straight at Jim, clipping him on his right side, before speeding off. Jim went partially over the bonnet, rolled off and fell heavily to the ground. Blair spurred into action at last, raced out of the car to help Jim.

"Are you all right?" asked Blair anxiously.

"Yeah, man." replied Jim.

Jim had got to his knees and was almost upright but his leg gave way and Blair flung an arm round him.

"I'll get you to the hospital," said Blair.

"No. Let's just go. Come on."

Lurching upright Jim staggered to the passenger side and grabbed the radio. Jim called for an APB on Ungar's car as Blair scrambled into the driver's seat. Jim got in and shut the door.

"Let's go, let's go!" urged Jim as they sped after Ungar under Jim's direction.

They lost Ungar. Jim wanted to carry on looking but Blair pestered him to go to the Emergency room to get checked out. Heaving a big sigh Jim reluctantly agreed, he did feel a little battered.

After several hours of X Rays and scans Jim and Blair returned to Major Crimes.

As soon as they arrived Captain Simon Banks gave them information from a lead he had followed up. Accessing Ungar's bank accounts led them via a pay check to a name. It turned out that the developer Latham had a lot of property held in his wife's maiden name.

Armed with the list of addresses, they didn't hit pay dirt until the sixth building they checked. It was a ratty lock up, over the other side of town. Jim parked the Expedition, and got out. As he waited for Blair to catch up he looked, listened and ….what was that smell?

"All right, come on, Jim, you should be at home in bed, man,**" **said Blair watching Jim limp heavily toward the building.

"I may walk like Walter Brennan here, Chief, but duty calls**."** snapped Jim, focussed on the lock up. Blair sighed; there was no way to win with Jim in this kind of mood. Then he watched in amazement as Jim used some kind of lock picker on the door.

"Don't you smell that?" asked Jim.

"No,"

But it was worth it. Inside they found an elaborate printing set up, plates and all. While Jim called it in, Blair wandered around the room looking at things. Suddenly Jim sneezed loudly, dropping the phone. As he bent down to pick it up, his bruised ribs protested. There was squawking coming from the phone.

"Sorry, Simon I dropped the phone. Yeah everything's fine," Jim finished his call.

"Come on, Chief. The printing ink and solvents are driving me crazy here. Let's go." And to prove his point he coughed several times once outside.

"What's up?" asked Blair, noticing Jim holding his side.

"Nothing, just sore rib, along with everything else."

Marcus's urgent phone call to Jim led them straight to the store in Southtown where they caught Ungar and Latham in the act of kidnapping or at least intimidating the witness Marcus Watson. While Blair called for back up and kept an eye on the handcuffed Ungar, Jim took off after Latham.

0o0o0o0o

Once again Jim found himself looking over the edge of a roof, staring at a dead bad guy on top of a car below. Same old, same old, he thought remembering Colonel Oliver's dive off the rooftop. Me or him, just a matter of survival.

After calling back up to his new location and giving the all clear, he got his breath back and slowly made his way down the ladder. His ribs and legs protested every step. He carried on to the next level and then he was inside again. Only a few floors left to go. Cars arrived below, Jim recognised his own Expedition as Blair made it to the scene as well. He carried on down the stairwell; hand on the wall just in case his leg decided to give way after all the running and rooftop excitement.

"Jim? Where are you?" called Blair.

"Easy, Chief. I'm coming down now."

"Are you okay?" asked Blair again as they met up near the bottom of the stairs.

"Fine." Jim knew that whatever he said Blair wouldn't believe him. He would tell Blair about the fight and dangling from a yardarm later.

To Blair's eyes Jim looked rattled and trying to hide obvious pain.

Simon's car pulled up as they emerged into the daylight, Blair hovering beside Jim with one hand on his back, Jim did not seem to notice.

"Shame about Latham, but at least we got Ungar and the plates. Good work you two," commented Simon as he walked up to them.

"It was either him or me, sir," said Jim flatly.

"I'm not criticising you Jim. Go home you look like hell. Turn in your statement tomorrow." ordered Simon fixing Jim with a steely glare. Jim nodded.

"C'mon man. Let's go," urged Blair and led his partner to Jim's truck. Although Jim had driven earlier, he let Blair drive them home, a sure sign he'd had enough in Blair's books.

Once back at Prospect Place, Blair suggested Jim take a shower to ease some of the tenderness and gave him some liniment to put on the bruises. By the time Jim emerged feeling slightly better, although still tired and sore, Blair had made some tea for them both.

"What is this Chief?" asked Jim, sniffing the drink with a frown.

"Smell it and tell me," grinned Blair.

"No tests tonight please, I'm beat," said Jim.

"It's just a herbal tea to soothe and aid sleep, relax those muscles."

"I'll be sleepy and relaxed until I turn over, and then I'll be wide awake," groused Jim, but he drank the tea to shut Blair up.

After dinner, Jim gingerly settled on the couch to watch some TV looking for some sport, but ended up just channel surfing. Blair looked over at him when he realised that he hadn't heard Jim clicking the remote or commenting on the programs for a while. Jim was asleep.

"Jim?"

"Huh?"

"You'll sleep better in your bed upstairs, big guy." Blair said patiently

"What…oh. Okay. I guess I'll turn in."

"Hey, no problem man. I'm gonna stay up a bit longer and read through some anthro journals," and watched Jim's progress up the stairs.

Jim jerked awake, a cry stifled in his throat, as he relived being hit by Ungar's car and then hanging off the light pole as Latham flew over his head to the ground below. Only this time his hands slipped and Jim fell too. He sat up, his ribs protesting and he ached all over. He cast out his hearing to check on Blair…he was fast asleep. Jim lay back down, his breathing slowing down again. On the point of sleep, his hearing still dialled up, he thought he could hear something trickling. He dismissed it and fell asleep.

0o0o0o0o0o0o

Over the next week Jim slowly recovered, sure he was a little banged up, but bruises fade and one cracked rib would heal soon enough. He and Blair checked up on the community down in Southtown. Jim neatly managed to avoid painting duties, and singularly failed to recruit Marcus to the Police Academy.

Meanwhile back at 307 Prospect Place Jim drove Blair demented looking for water leaks. It seemed like every time he turned around, Jim was head first under the sink.

"Not again, man! What IS it with you?" Blair said in exasperation as he returned to the Loft one evening.

"I can hear it, Chief. I just can't find it. Driving me nuts," explained Jim for the twelfth time.

"Me too," mumbled Blair under his breath. Jim stood up, his glare directed at Blair spoiled by all the blood suddenly rushing out of Jim's face.

"Jim!" shouted Blair rushing over to the kitchen, as Jim's eyes fluttered and he hurriedly grabbed at the worktop for balance.

"Sit down for a moment, Jim" urged Blair as he pulled him towards the table and chairs.

"I'm okay. I just stood up too quickly that's all," said Jim, trying to catch his breath.

"Maybe you got water on the brain," quipped Blair, passing him a damp cloth.

"Smartass!" Jim retorted as the wet cloth on the back of his neck made him feel better already.

"Maybe you should get checked out at the Hospital again. Have you been sleeping okay? You look pale Jim,"

"I'm fine, Chief." But Jim was worried, even if he couldn't admit it to Blair. Sometimes it felt like he was breathing through water. He'd probably picked a bug. It would clear up in due course.

Another few days passed and Friday night arrived and Jim was looking forward to having the weekend to catch up on sleep. Hopefully he'd feel more like himself come Monday. Blair kept looking at him.

Jim parked the Ford outside Prospect Place and lightly jogged up the stairs, annoyed at himself how quickly he became breathless these days. As soon as Jim entered the Loft he remembered that Blair was giving a class tonight and that it was Jim's turn to cook. He'd worked late, and forgotten to get groceries in the lunchtime. Damn, he'd have to go back out to the store now, if he had any chance of making something decent for supper before Blair got home.

Half an hour later, groceries in his arms, Jim was headed back to the apartment building. Automatically he looked ahead, scanning the area. In the distance he could see old Mrs Leichtner from 207 tottering along with her small bag of groceries and purse over her arm. She was almost at the lobby.

Movement caught his attention. A man in dark jeans, jacket and knitted watch cap dawdled along on the other side of the road. He was watching Mrs Leichtner. Hunting for easy prey? A little old lady. The man began to cross the road aiming for her.

Jim began to walk faster. The suspect reached Mrs L. Maybe Jim was wrong and he was just going to ask for the time or a light. Yeah, right. He dropped his groceries and broke into a run when he saw them tussling with her grocery bag and purse. Mrs Leichtner might be a tough old bird but he didn't want to see her hurt if he could help it.

"Hey! Cascade Police!" Jim yelled. Both Mrs L and the man turned towards him. Mrs Leichtner swiftly kicked him in the shins and backed out of his grip. The man panicked and turned and fled across the road. He just avoided being run over by Blair's car as he turned the corner. Blair watched in amazement as Jim checked Mrs Leichtner was okay and then asked him which way he saw the fleeing man go. Blair parked the car and got out

"Jim? What's goin' on man? What's happened? You look terrible!"

"Just winded," wheezed Jim as he patted Blair's car and returned to the sidewalk to call in the description of the would -be thief.

Mrs Leichtner and Blair exchanged concerned looks as Jim's description and brief statement on the phone was issued in breathless spurts.

"Take Mrs L home. I'll get our groceries," ordered Jim pointing to his abandoned bag.

"No, I'll look after him, Blair. You go get your dinner," said Mrs Leichtner firmly, steering Jim towards the lobby of the apartment block.

A minute or so later Blair returned. Jim was sitting on the bottom step of the flight of stairs, pale but upright.

"Okay, what's wrong with you Jim?" he asked.

"Can't seem to get my breath,"

"That's it! We're going to the hospital to get you checked out. This has gone on long enough."

"Chief…"

"Mr Ellison? Listen to your friend. I'm very grateful to you for scaring off that man. Why he would want my tins of cat food, I really have no idea. But I do know that this block needs you keeping an eye out for all of us. I'll look after your groceries until you get back. Now go!" interrupted Mrs Leichtner.

0o0o0o0o0o0o

In the Emergency room, they had to wait a while to be seen. Blair helped Jim adjust his dials for smell and hearing, as the hospital threatened to overwhelm Jim and add to his distress.

Finally a senior doctor arrived and went over the history notes the junior doctor had taken before examining Jim thoroughly.

"I'm Doctor Carlisle. Well, there's something going on, you have reduced breath sounds and decreased chest expansion. We'll take some chest x rays and see what they tell us. Your vitals are all elevated; we'll keep an eye on those." He scribbled on a chart and watched the nurse attach the pads and watched the numbers come up on the monitor. "Hmm, BP's a bit high. You might need some O 2 on board as well,"

Blair and Jim sat through the portable x ray, and waited for the doctor to return with the results.

Dr Carlisle breezed into the room and slapped the x ray onto a light box.

"Here's the problem all right. See this cloudy area?" he asked indicating the right lung. "His chest cavity is filling with fluid,"

"Oh my God!" exclaimed Blair. "But he got hit by the car almost two weeks ago, surely a punctured lung…"

"It's not a punctured lung. You're correct that would have shown up much quicker. No, this is either a pneumo or haemothorax. Air or probably blood is collecting between the inner and outer linings of the lungs. It's fairly common after blunt trauma,"

"But you can fix it, can't you?" asked Blair.

"Yes, we drain it using a chest tube,"

"Big needles and an air pump," added Jim, entering the conversation suddenly

The Doctor turned to him, "Correct. Let me get the kit and a nurse and I'll be right back. We need to do this now to prevent his lung collapsing."

"Oh man, I KNEW there was something," said Blair standing next to Jim on the gurney.

"Look, there was nothing either of us could have done," offered Jim with a sigh. And he settled back onto the pillows, already getting irritated by the sticky pads on his bare chest, and the pulse ox meter on his index finger.

Dr Carlisle returned as promised.

"Okay, Jim isn't it? You're going to need some pain medication on board plus a local. This procedure is quite painful otherwise, and I need to get the tube in correctly. You mustn't move," he explained.

"Ah, doc, you know about all of Jim's allergies. You checked the list?" said Blair quickly.

"Yes, I did. I am well aware of Mr Ellison's…sensitivities. These are okay for him. Although I gather it might not last very long?"

Both Jim and Blair nodded, and let the doctor and nurse get on with things, fitting and loading the IV. He asked Jim to raise his right arm above his head. He then prepped and draped the area. Then he administered the local anaesthetic directly between the fourth and fifth ribs.

"Let me explain what's going to happen. Jim can you feel this?" The doctor asked pressing Jim's rib below his armpit, about level with his nipple.

"No"

"Okay, this chest tube is going to drain the fluid and re- inflate the lung. I make a small incision here…" and he pointed. Jim and Blair looked.

"Okay," they chorused.

"Then I insert my finger into the chest cavity to place the tube correctly. I insert the tube; stitch it in so it doesn't fall out. It's attached to a pump that ensures air and fluid comes out and not back in again. The blood drains into the jar."

"Right everyone, here we go. Incision first."

To Blair it all looked very basic, cut a hole and stick your finger in, but if it solved Jim's problem then he wasn't going to complain.

Jim felt a pushing sensation as the doctor probed with his finger.

"Chest tube going in…now,"

Jim felt more pushing going on. The doctor fiddled with the tube.

"Okay that's open now,"

Blood immediately welled out of the tube and into the collecting bag.

Blair changed his mind about complaining, this looked scary.

The doctor looked at it, as he quickly stitched the drain in place.

"Whoa, that's a lot of blood!" exclaimed the doctor, as the bag began to fill steadily.

Blair began to look really worried, but Jim just lay back and let it happen. Not a lot he could do about it, although the smell of the blood from the incision and prep solution was beginning to get to him.

"Nurse, I'm going to need a bigger bag…the larger the better," The nurse hurried out. By the time she returned moments later, the bag was filling rapidly.

"There's got to be almost a litre in here!" Dr Carlisle muttered as he deftly swapped the bag.

0o0o0o0o0o0o

Gradually the flow petered out. The doctor and nurse kept an eye on the monitor as the BP numbers dropped.

"Is that it?" asked Blair anxiously.

"Looks like it. I've drawn off over a litre and a half of blood here. It's good thing you came in."

"Not for lack of trying!" retorted Blair, looking at Jim.

"That's why I was so breathless doc," Jim stated.

"Yes, this is serious stuff. The body has …."

"An average 5 litres of blood pumping round the body. I just lost a quarter of mine," finished Jim.

The Doctor looked surprised.

"Ah, he was a medic in the Army," explained Blair.

"How much longer do I have to sit with this tube sticking out of me?" asked Jim with a pained expression.

"Local wearing off already?" said Carlisle, surprised again.

Jim nodded, fidgeting slightly in the bed. Blair put a reassuring hand on his arm. Jim looked up and nodded his thanks.

"Sorry, got to leave it in there a bit longer. I'm leaving you hooked up to the monitor as well. Don't want you crashing on me."

"So how long are we talking about here? Overnight? Or…?" asked Blair.

"At least 3 days or so. A haemo is like a slow trickle really. Once the lung has re inflated it should stop. I'll need another x ray now to compare with the other one. We'll need to check no air or fluid has got back in, monitor him for infection after the tube has been removed. There'll be a bandage over the wound and another x ray. Then that's it. Go home time. He should replace the lost blood within 24 to 48 hours,"

"Better call Simon and tell him the latest," ordered Jim.

"Sure. I'll go back to the Loft and get some of your things. I'll check on Mrs Leichtner too while I'm at it," Blair replied, his mind darting ahead planning.

"We'll move Mr Ellison out of Emergency and into a proper bed soon. You can either wait, or just ask at admissions when you come back later. We'll take good care of him, don't worry. You got here in time." reassured Dr Carlisle as he left follow up notes, and instructions for another x ray with the nurse

"Thanks doc," said Jim.

"So Jim. Did you notice what he said? A slow trickle, huh?" said Blair with a slight smile on his face. Payback time…

"Yeah,"

"Any chance this has something to do with your water leak frenzy over the past two weeks?"

"Now that you mention it…" Jim said slowly.

"Do you realise what this means….?"

"More tests?"

"Maybe if you could just focus things a bit more...internally. Then you could have pinpointed it." Blair mused.

"Sandburg, I don't want to hear every sound my body makes inside, or anybody else's for that matter! Thank you very much. The world outside is bad enough," growled Jim.

"Hear me out. This could be good. I mean you were a medic, right…"

"No!" snapped Jim.

"But you told me once that you could hear my heartbeat. Tell it from all the others." countered Blair.

"That's different,"

"How?"

"Because I need to know where you are. It's part of you that's imprinted on my senses, that's why. I don't think it works for anyone else, you're my Guide. It just

happens," explained Jim.

"Oh," said Blair surprised and pleased at the same time.

"See, that stopped you!"

"I didn't realise. Wow. That's….I wonder if Burton talks about this?"

"Don't mention it,"

"I won't," said Blair, still thinking about what this meant.

"So glad we got that settled," said Jim patiently.

"So, still with the Blessed Protector Guide schtick then?" asked Blair.

"If you say so,"

"Why doesn't it work the other way around, you know for you? How can I as your Guide, help you if you ignore things?" wondered Blair.

"I didn't know what it was either. Let's not beat ourselves over the head about it, okay?"

There was a pause.

"So no tests then…?"

"NO!"

END


End file.
